Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Tuesday Buildup--The Inspiration Behind Shades of Blood

So, like Shades of Desire, Shades of Blood does have a historical base that I'm building on. It's funny, because it's very, very hard to find a good, bare bones version of the story. I was originally told the story (both of them, actually) by a tour guide on a Haunted History Tour in New Orleans. Some of the guides are more informative than others, making it a little hit and miss. The version below, which is the closest I can find at the moment, gives some background on the mysterious Felipe.

John and Wayne Carter were brothers. Seemed to be normal in every aspect. Had
normal labor jobs down by the river and lived on a street in the French Quarter.
It was the 1930’s and times were hard. So a man worked all he could and rested
when he could. One day, a girl was reported to have escaped from the Carter
brothers’ apartment, and ran to the authorities. Her wrists were cut. Not enough
to cause immediate death, but more so, to drain slowly of that red source of
life, over the course of several days. The policemen ran to this 3rd story
apartment and found 4 others tied to chairs with their wrists sliced in the same
fashion also. Some had been there for many days. The story was that both of
these brothers had abducted each of them and would drink their blood at the end
of every day when they came home from work. They also found about 14 other dead
bodies. The cops waited that night for the return of the brothers and when they
did, it took 7 to 8 of them to hold down these two averaged size men who had
been doing manual labor all day. A few years later when they were finally
executed, the bodies were placed in a New Orleans vault. Cemeteries in New
Orleans are fanciful in their own making. Not only are they more ornate than the
rest of our nation’s, but they recycle them using the same vault over and over
again. The remains sift down into the back, bottom of the vault, when it is all
rubble, and the new body is slid inside. After many years, they were placing
some other Carter in this grave and what they found in the vault was nothing. No
John or Wayne. They were gone. To this day, many sightings have occurred in the
French Quarter that match the descriptions of these two brothers almost exactly.
Years later, an owner of their apartment, saw two figures that resembled them
outside on their balcony one night whispering to each other. Both figures jumped
off the top of the 3rd story balcony and took off running.

The rumor is
that if a vampire drinks of your blood 7 nights in a row, then and only then can
you become a vampire. Some of those kidnapped in the Carter brothers apartment
had been there over 7 days. One warped fellow, named Felipe, went on to become
one of the nation’s biggest serial killer. And of course, he would do more than
just kill them, he was believed to drink all 32 of his victims’ blood. --orignially posted at The Dashing Life and Exuberant Times of Brian Harrison....And Other Rare Anecdotes

How will all this come together with Jude, Theo, Williams, and Duprees? Well, for that you'll have to wait and see. (Hey--I rhymed. Look at that!)